Confessions of Professor and Pupil
by Renee Lepic
Summary: James Potter returns to Hogwarts School, this time as a professor, and meets Lily Evans, brilliant and full of life. He falls for her and romance, comedy, and drama follow. AU teacher and student
1. Prologue

_**Summary**_: **_James Potter returns to Hogwarts School, this time as a teacher, and meets Lily Evans, brilliant and full of life_**. _**He falls for her and romance, comedy, and drama follow. **_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, anything from the brilliant mind of JK Rowling, and whatever else that isn't mine.**_

**Prologue **

James Potter breathed in as he entered the classroom. The castle was slightly chilly but not uncomfortable. He sat in his desk, the desk that he would occupy that entire year. Not just any desk, but the desk at the front of the classroom, which was made of sturdy oak, with various drawers, all enchanted to fit far more than they could logically accumulate.

James Potter had returned to Hogwarts for the first time in eight years, and he knew it now: this was home.

His career as an auror had been short-lived, but very successful. He had enjoyed it, had learned much, but this year, it was time for a change. He had beat out several others for the very much coveted position of Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

And why shouldn't he have? He was much better suited for it than all of them. If Dumbledore believed it, then James had every right to assume it was the case.

He hoped.

Appreciating the peace of the castle in it's few last hours of summer, James leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

They shot open only seconds later. Who the hell was he kidding? He wanted to meet the students, watch their lives unfold as his had only a few years ago. The next few hours would pass too slowly for his taste, he knew.

_**Author's Note: Inspired by the lovely Moony4Moony. Her fic Professor made me want to write a teacher/student fic. So there. Go read hers, too. Also, future chapters will be longer, this is simply the prologue.**_


	2. Chapter 1

_**Summary**_: **_James Potter returns to Hogwarts School, this time as a teacher, and meets Lily Evans, brilliant and full of life_**. _**He falls for her and romance, comedy, and drama follow. **_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, anything from the brilliant mind of JK Rowling, and whatever else that isn't mine.**_

**Chapter 1  
**

Lily Evans sat down amongst all her Gryffindor friends, preparing for her sixth year of the ever-exciting sorting ceremony. She would honestly have preferred to spend time with Severus Snape instead. Well, no, perhaps that was a bit rash, but almost anything was better than watching a large group of first years sit, one by one, under a worn, old hat, which would randomly shout out one of four things:

"Gryffindor!"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Slytherin!"

She supposed that knowing the names and houses of the first years would be handy, but couldn't Dumbledore just give them a list, even have them take a quiz over it to ensure that they knew each name by heart.

"Lily!" whispered one of her friends, Gretty Giddings, a few minutes into the ceremony. "Look at the head table. We have a new teacher."

Lily scanned over the head table and looked for a face that was unfamiliar to her.

"The one with the dark hair and glasses?" she questioned.

"Yes, isn't he dreamy?"

Lily laughed. "He is rather handsome, I must admit, but that's hardly orthodox."

"Hey, I'm okay with that," whispered another girl, Loren Katz. She was gazing at the man with an obviously glazed and dreamy look. It was a wonder he didn't notice.

Who was she to say? Perhaps he did.

* * *

James' eyes looked over the room, knowing he would not find a familiar face, since anyone he knew would have graduated by this time. He was, however, curious to see what this year's group of students was like. 

His eyes fell on nearly everyone of the students there, first coming upon a young boy who was sitting at the Slytherin table, not speaking to anyone, and with a demonic, plotting look on his face. The girl beside him had white hair and large blue eyes. She looked rather scared of everything and everyone around her.

The Ravenclaw table was full of intelligent looking beings, all sitting in an orderly fashion.

Hufflepuff had possibly one of the largest young men he had ever seen, taking up three seats, but he had a very pleasant looking face, smiling and jolly.

At the Gryffindor table, a couple of girls were gazing at him with a dreamy stare. Fantastic, more crushes to deter. He thought he had finished with that sort of thing when he graduated Hogwarts. But after all, he should have foreseen this. He had been one of the most attractive boys at Hogwarts in his time. He probably still was. And no matter what anyone said, he was _not_ cocky.

His eyes moved over a few seats and met the large, emerald eyes of a girl. She was looking at him curiously, but broke the eye contact as soon as she realized that it had been made. She blushed and looked down, her red hair covering her face.

And what a pretty face it was, pale with light freckles, full lips and a delicate nose.

No. No no no. She was a perfect oaf. Unattractive features, spotty skin, mousy, lank hair. Awful, awful, her face was the epitome of discord and chaos.

No, who was he kidding? She was exquisite, but he couldn't think that. He was her teacher, a trusted leader on the path of learning that led to success.

Oh, but she was lovely.

**_Author's Note: Yeah, I guess that was pretty short, too. Hopefully the chapters will get longer. Read and review, please?_**


	3. Chapter 2

**_Summary_**: **_James Potter returns to Hogwarts School, this time as a teacher, and meets Lily Evans, brilliant and full of life_**. **_He falls for her and romance, comedy, and drama follow. _**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, anything from the brilliant mind of JK Rowling, and whatever else that isn't mine.**_

**Chapter 2**

The first day of classes was one that James was particularly eager for, which he found to be slightly amusing because, as a student, he had often preferred weekends and holidays to classes and schoolwork. But this would, after all, be his first opportunity to acquaint himself with the students.

The first day came quickly, and James, who had rarely been nervous in all his years, was now experiencing a bit of a worry fest.

What if they didn't like him?

What if he came across as too strict?

Worse, what if he came across as too lenient and lost any chance he had of being able to control his students?

Still worse, what if he seemed pretty cool at first, then lost control of the class, then yelled? Then the students would think he was a control freak.

As his first class of the day, indeed of ever, filed in, he stood at the door, smiling cheerfully.

_I hope they can't tell I'm nervous. Do you reckon they can smell fear? Like animals?_

He mentally shook the thoughts from his head. He was acting as though he was a hundred years old. He had been a Hogwarts student only a few short years before. And he certainly had not been able to smell fear.

Well, actually, he rather could in Animagus form, but that was highly irrelevant.

"Er, Professor?" he heard a boy say. "Do you plan on starting the class?"

James then realized that he had allowed his thoughts to run entirely amuck. As a result he was still standing at the door, smiling rather stupidly and greeting the air.

He coughed. "Right, sorry."

He had full control of his thoughts. They taught them to keep focused as Aurors. He would not let his mind wander, and he would not allow himself to do anything that made him look like a complete buffoon.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts, class. I trust you've had a good summer?"

He was met with nods from around the room. They seemed to be awake. Good.

"My name is James Potter, that's Professor Potter to all of you."

He had rehearsed this speech the night before, as well as this morning.

"I'm your new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, as you can see. Prior to this, I held the position of an Auror for the Ministry of Magic."

At this comment, a couple of the students allowed their jaws to drop, probably still entertaining the idea that an Auror was a romantic, adventurous hero, an idea that they had most likely held since the first mention and explanation of the term.

But weren't these his sixth years? They should have known better than that. Ah, well. They'll learn; that was his job. He continued his speech.

"I would bore you with a history of my life, but I doubt very much that any of you are interested."

A few of the girls in the back of the classroom, however, did look very interested.

"I will, however, give you a few short facts so that you have to wonder too much about the alluring man of mystery that is James Potter."

A few boys snickered, but the girls in the back sighed dreamily.

"I attended this school eight years ago, excellent school, must say. I trained for the position of Auror for three years following my education here and then participated in missions for the past five. This, for you mathematicians, will bring us to the age of twenty-five. Young, perhaps, for a teacher, but be sure you understand that I lack no experience and will teach you as much and grade you as harshly as any other teacher would. I ask that you are respectful of me, and I will pay you equal respect. If you run into any problems this year, please come to me, I will do what I can."

This was good. He sounded very professional, but fairly relaxed. He sat down on his desk, pleased, but rather surprised when he found that he had not fallen on his arse in the attempt.

"Today, I will lecture shortly on…"

He paused. She was in this class. His very first class. His heart beat a bit quicker, and he attempted to control it, but failed.

"Erm… on deflection spells."

Oh, how he hoped that that was what he had meant to lecture on today.

* * *

Lily listened to Professor Potter's talk with great interest. You wouldn't have thought such a simple topic could be anything but boring, but she found it far from such. Also, she had not yet had time to look this new professor over, so it was with no trouble that she gave him her attention, looking over the features that she had glanced briefly at on the night of the feast. 

Lily took a few, sparse notes, outlining a few new spells and their properties.

"Now class," the Professor said, "It's time for you to pair up and practice a few of these spells with each other. I'd like for one of you to cast the spell _aquius artus_, commonly called the jelly legs spell. I'm not taking any chances in allowing you to use your own judgment in choosing hexes," he said, laughing. "The other partner will attempt to deflect this spell with each of the five spells I have just listed."

He then sat down behind his desk. Lily was about to walk over to Gretty, when a blonde boy, the one who had spoken to Professor Potter at the beginning of the class, came over to her side.

"Hello, Lily, I'm Mendalus Archer, I just moved here from Ireland. I was wondering if you'd be my partner?"

Lily looked over his shoulder at Gretty, who cast her a questioning look, but then nodded.

"Yes, that'd be fine."

* * *

James looked up from his desk, carefully watching each of the pairs practice and making sure that none of them caused any injury to themselves or others. The girl he had noticed in the Great Hall (he wasn't sure of her name yet) seemed to be doing very well, practicing with a tall blonde boy. 

He found himself staring at the pair, and wondering how well they knew each other.

Suddenly, a bell clanged, signaling the end of the class. That didn't seem right. He was sure he had only been watching their progress for a few minutes.

He stood up, sort of disoriented by the feeling that he had lost part of the class time, and opened the door. All the students rushed out, headed for their next class.

She stayed behind a few moments, packing up her belongings. He sat down and watched her attempt to shove a rather large notebook into a rather small knapsack.

He chuckled.

She looked up, with a questioning look on her face.

"Oh, sorry. It just seems as though that isn't going to work," he said pleasantly.

She smiled at him then said, "Well, it's supposed to fit more than it looks as though it would, but I suppose that it's reached its limit. 'Neverending Bag' my foot."

His smiled back at her.

"What's your name?" As soon as he asked the question he felt relieved, as though he had been itching to ask it. Which, he was sure, he hadn't been.

"Lily Evans, Professor."

It was so fitting. Delicate and pretty.

No. Not pretty. Flighty and ridiculous. Who named a girl Lily, of all things?

"Well, I've got to go, or I'll be late to class."

He snapped out of his thoughts.

"Right. Well, have a good day."

He watched her as she left the room, falling into his chair with a sigh. He could not, would not be attracted to her.

**Just Another Harry Potter Fan **– Hehe. Thanks much, I'll do my best.

**Moony4Moony(x2 :-p) **– Aww. Thank you! Your uber sweet. Xoxo.

**Fergie2 **– Thanks tons. Yeah, I've always found them to be interesting, too. : )

**Leonie Leo **– Thank you. There are quite a few stories out there like this, I know, that have the teacher and student thing. But I wanted to write one, maybe it'll be a bit different. If not oh, well. It's still a lot of fun to do. : )

**All** – Hehe, thanks to everyone for the reviews so far. Please continue to read and review, it's so appreciated. I try to respond to every one of them. It's really a fantastic exercise in seeing how many different ways I can say thank you. Haha. But really, it's so helpful, knowing what you guys want and think of my fanfiction helps a lot when I go to write it. I'm sure that's the point, of course, but still.


	4. Chapter 3

**_Summary_**: **_James Potter returns to Hogwarts School, this time as a teacher, and meets Lily Evans, brilliant and full of life_**. **_He falls for her and romance, comedy, and drama follow. _**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, anything from the brilliant mind of JK Rowling, and whatever else that isn't mine.**_

**Chapter 3**

James walked through the hallway on his way to his chamber from his classroom. He had finished grading a few papers. Over the past week he discovered that he got more done when he stayed there as opposed to working in his chamber, which posed too many distractions: various books, a wonderful view of the lake, etc.

Had it really been a week since he had started teaching? He was still nervous around his students, though he had learned to hide it better; he was still getting to know the students of Hogwarts; he was still attracted to Lily Evans.

No. No, he wasn't and never had been.

_Thud_.

"Sorry," he mumbled, as a book hit his foot and as several others missed very narrowly. "Damnit, I should watch where I walk."

"Oh, no, it's my fault."

He recognized that voice. Would his heart please calm down?

"Oh, hello, Lily. Here, let me get those." Very teacher like. Good. He sat down on the floor and picked up the books that he had knocked out of her hands.

Meanwhile, Lily walked over to the other side of the corridor and bent over to pick up a notebook that had slid a few feet away from where they had bumped into each other. Soon, all the belongings were gathered up, and James handed Lily her books while she held the notebook in her other arm at her side. She placed the notebook on top of the books, allowing her two hands to carry the pile.

"Er, thank you, Professor," she said.

"It's well into the weekend; where are you off to with all of these?" he gestured at the books she was holding._ I will not offer to carry them for her, will not offer to carry them for her,_ his mind repeated.

"Library, to study," she explained.

"Study for what?" He himself had rarely studied while at Hogwarts. "It's only the first week of school."

"Can't get behind, can I?"

She was the type that always raised her hand rather tentatively in class and gave the answer as though it were a question, but the answer was always right. She wasn't very confident in her knowledge, but it was clear that she had it.

"You aren't the type that would fall behind."

"How do you know?" she asked.

"It's only been eight years since I was at Hogwarts, and my friend Remus was just like you, sort of quiet, a little bit hesitant when it came to responding in class, but clearly brilliant. Graduated with top marks."

She blushed. "Thank you, sir."

"Well, I'm headed to the library as well."

_What? No you aren't_, he thought. He had no idea what made him say that.

"I'll walk you there," he continued.

_Damnit, what the hell are you doing?_ his mind countered.

"Alright," she said.

And they began to walk, oddly enough, in the direction opposite of where James had been heading a few minutes before. He wondered if she noticed. She was smart, she couldn't not have, but she said nothing.

He felt like a schoolboy with the girl he liked, shooting sideways glances at her out of the corner of his eyes while the two of them walked in awkward silence.

Er… rather, he felt like a teacher, with a student walking beside them, both of them too different to really be able to talk. Yes, that was it.

"So, uh…" he began. "How is your sixth year?"

"Pretty good, actually. I have a few friends." –James knew she was being modest. He had seen her in the hallway with a large group of girls crowded around her, and he had often noticed the looks that boys cast her as she walked by their desks. – "I've got some good teachers." –Another understatement, now that he was teaching. – "And I'm finally away from my sister."

"What's wrong with your sister?" James asked.

"She hates me."

"Oh." He didn't think it would be wise to question her further on the matter.

Soon they had arrived at the library, and after a questioning look from Madame Pince, they parted ways, Lily leaving to study, and James heading for the restricted section.

Once out of the view of anyone, he began to bang his head against the bookshelf, hitting a few books, all of which screamed in unison, but in different pitches. He backed away, surprised. They stopped once he did so.

Suddenly, Madame Pince was peering at him suspiciously from behind one of the shelves.

"Sorry," he mouthed at her. She probably remembered him. Anyone would, but Madame Pince probably most clearly recalled the time he had put a miniature skrewt in her lunch once.

He saw Lily sitting quietly at a table by herself, studying large, worn volume. Her long red hair was flowing down her back in a way it had to right to do so nicely. A strand or two would constantly slip into her eyes, and she would push it behind her ear each time it did so.

New plan. Admit to liking Lily, hide affection until consultation with Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew.

– Thank you much.

**Moony4Moony** – Thank you! Yeah, I wanted to make James like… struggling, kinda cocky, but not like "OMG She is so hot I'm going to bang her, I don't care who she is." I hope I've succeeded somewhat maybe?

**Chelle-Lynn** – I wasn't sure where I was going to finish with it yet. He hasn't hit on her yet, though he likes her. As for the age difference, you comment surprised me a little (not badly) cos I was like "25 and 16 isn't a huge jump" and had first considered making him older, then figured younger would be more appealing. He is only 25, and so they are both "young and beautiful" or wotnot still. I guess if I try to see it through another's point of view, it's kind of sketchy, but I don't find age difference that major, so long as both parties have good intentions, which I think James does. Unless I decide to make him an evil rapist.

**Tantan** – Hehe. Thanks! Yeah, we dunno what Lily planning on yet, so I guess we'll have to keep reading to find out. : p

**Elspeth Renee **– Hehe. Again, the age comments surprised me, just because I was like "Maybe they're too close?" But it's all good, thanks much for reviewing!

**Hollaback Girl_, Just Another Harry Potter Fan,_** **Leonie Leo**, wally4ever, _SiriusJamesRemus'sgirl_– Thank you both so much. I'm trying to combine some of these so that my review responses don't get longer than the actual story. Haha.

**ComicallyInsane** – I think James still thinks he's in his Marauder days, so I'm sure he'll talk about it. . Thanks so much for your compliments on the setting/plot.

**LarryJoeBob** – Thanks! Yeah, teacher/professor stories sort of fascinate me.

**All **– I may have to stop responding to every review as I try to do, just cos it takes up so much space. But thank you all, please keep reviewing, totally appreciate it. Also, I know the response to Chelle-Lynn was really long, but I think it will probably answer the question(s) that a few readers have, so I figured I'd include it. So, I've been getting tired of editting three times, does anyone maybe want to beta for me? If you find mistakes here, let me know, I probably just got a bit lazy.


	5. Chapter 4

**_Summary_**: **_James Potter returns to Hogwarts School, this time as a teacher, and meets Lily Evans, brilliant and full of life_**. **_He falls for her and romance, comedy, and drama follow. _**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, anything from the brilliant mind of JK Rowling, and whatever else that isn't mine.**_

Chapter 4 

_Monday Morning._

_James sat at his desk, waiting for his class to leave so that he could lock the door and go to the Great Hall for lunch._

_Lily remained seated. Once all the other students left, she stood and walked to his desk._

_"Professor?"_

_He looked up from the papers he had been pretending to grade as a cover for watching her every move._

_"Yes, Lily, what can I do for you?"_

_"I… er… have something to confess."_

_"Hmm?"_

_"Don't laugh at me."_

_His heart began to beat more quickly. "I wouldn't."_

_"Well… I…"_

_Lub dub, faster._

_"I really, really like you, Professor."_

_"Wow," was all he could say._

_"Yeah… so…" She sounded sort of nervous._

_Lubdub lubdub. Faster._

_"I like you, too."_

_"What?" she seemed surprised._

_"Yeah."_

_"Oh. Alright, would you like to have sex?"_

_"Please," he replied_

_The clothes began to fly off…_

* * *

James' wand began to buzz, wriggle and shoot sparks. 

"Ugh, bloody alarm. I shouldn't have set it for this early," he told himself, looking down at his raised sheets. "Oh, bloody hell, I disgust myself." He sighed. This was getting out of control.

It was Saturday, a week and a day after he had walked Lily to the library.

He should not keep track of days in terms of such.

The wand now proceeded to make a sound like that of a firework being set off. James reached over and grabbed it, muttering a spell to turn the alarm function off.

Why did that have to be just a dream?

Because it wasn't realistic, in any way, shape, form on any planet.

At least today he was going to The Three Broomsticks to confess the matter to his friends and fellow Marauders.

First, though, a cold shower.

* * *

Saturday morning meant homework for Lily Evans. She liked to get it out of the way before she spent time with her friends. She had been working diligently in the common room since about eight o'clock. Soon, ten o'clock came and she was so close to finishing her DADA essay. 

Suddenly, Archibald and Albert Morris, two blonde twin boys, slid down the banister, screaming what could best be described as a Native war cry at the top of their lungs.

"Lily!" screamed Archibald.

"I knew I'd find you here, Lils!" remarked Albert before Archibald could continue to speak.

She looked at up at them from her homework. "Yes?"

"Lily, I was wondering if you'd like to go to Hogsmeade–" said Albert.

"With me. He was wondering if you'd go with me," interrupted Archibald.

She laughed. "Um. Thanks, but I wasn't planning on going." They were nice boys, of course, quite handsome and in her grade, but she couldn't take one and leave the other. And besides, she wasn't really interested in either.

"Please, Lily?" Albert asked.

"Can I just hang out with both of you?"

They sighed, in unison.

"I suppose," said Archibald, with an over-exaggerated disappointment.

Soon, most everyone in the Gryffindor dorm rooms were awake and on their ways downstairs. Lily stood, put her things into her bookbag and waved goodbye to the twins. She then headed off to the library to complete her essay.

* * *

"Professor Dumbledore?" James inquired, walking into the office. 

"Yes, James?" Dumbledore looked up from the game of wizard's chess that he appeared to be playing with himself.

"I'd like to go to Hogsmeade today, to meet with Sirius and Remus and Peter, if it's alright with you, sir."

"Ah, perfectly fine. Catching up with old friends is an activity I always advocate."

James sat quietly for a moment, feeling rather awkward. "Erm, alright, thank you, Sir." He stood and began to move towards the door.

"Still feel like a student, James?" Dumbledore remarked, laughing a bit.

James paused, then turned around. "A little bit, Sir. Sort of odd to speak to you being someone other than a student."

"Well, you are still quite young, James. Twenty-five and a lot of life to experience."

"Yes, sir," he replied, wondering where the conversation was going.

"Find any time for romance, James?" Dumbledore said, winking.

James put his hands in his pockets. "Erm, not really, Sir."

Did Dumbledore know? Dumbledore knew everything.

"Well, if you want to leave for a few dates, please let me know before you do." The old man smiled, eyes twinkling behind his spectacles.

Perhaps he didn't know. James never knew what to think anymore. Dumbledore was difficult to read.

"By the way, Lily Evans was wondering if you could help her out a bit with temporary mind altering spells. She mentioned having some difficulty with them."

**All- Wrote it in rather a rush. Will edit and fix when I get home, just wanted to get this out for you guys. Also, will respond to reviews in next chapter as have little time currently. Please read and review, loveys!**

**Edit: Made the beginning italicised since I got a lot of comments that read "when I read that I thought you were out of your mind, thankfully I kept reading." So then I thought, well what if some people didn't keep reading? So yes, that's different now, no other changes really.  
**


	6. Chapter 5

**_Summary_**: **_James Potter returns to Hogwarts School, this time as a teacher, and meets Lily Evans, brilliant and full of life_**. **_He falls for her and romance, comedy, and drama follow. _**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, anything from the brilliant mind of JK Rowling, and whatever else that isn't mine._**

**Chapter 4 **

"Sixteen?"

James sighed and looked down. "I've told you already, Padfoot. Yes, she's sixteen."

"Well, is she hot?" Peter Pettigrew asked.

James laughed. "I don't want to say yes… but yes. She's beautiful, she's brilliant, she's sweet. Oh, hell, what do I do?"

"What does she think of you?" Remus Lupin inquired, cutting his French toast. Thankfully only a few people were at The Three Broomsticks between the times of breakfast and lunch, allowing for a fairly private conversation.

"I don't know. Apparently she needs assistance with temporary mind altering spells. Says Dumbledore."

"Well, you're quite handsome, Prongsie, I'm sure she's only pretending to need help," Sirius quipped, his mouth full of scrambled eggs.

"That's what I can't figure out. She hasn't had any problems in the class so far. All of her work is brilliant. And she seemed decent at the spells she claims she needs help with, although, admittedly, not as good as she is at everything else."

"Maybe she's just an overachiever," suggested Peter.

"Maybe," agreed Sirius Black, or Padfoot as he preferred. "Or maybe she likes you and doesn't realize it."

"What do you mean?" Remus asked, chewing thoughtfully.

"Maybe she isn't that great at the spells. But she doesn't need anything but some practice if she's what Prongsie says she is. Maybe she's attracted to him subconsciously and therefore, requests tutoring. She has a little problem and her mind exaggerates it in order to help her get want she subconsciously wants – James," Sirius explained.

Sirius was an auror, but was currently stationed in the psychiatric ward of St. Mungo's, learning from psychiatrists and helping other aurors recover from some of their more traumatizing experiences. He enjoyed this and clearly believed he had some authority in the psychiatric field.

Peter was rather more simpleminded.

"That's too complicated," said Peter, sipping his butterbeer.

"Well, no one ever said girls were simple," Remus remarked. "Although I have to say, Sirius, your theory might be a bit of a stretch. Though I might not be fully convinced just because you were chewing with your mouth open as you said it."

"I think it's a brilliant theory, myself," Sirius said, proudly.

"Well of course you do," said Peter, "You're… you."

"Congrats, Peter, way to think," Remus joked.

"So what do you guys think, I mean really," James asked. "What do I do?"

"Well," Peter began, "I think if you find out that she likes you, it's okay to act. I'm sure you've got good intentions; make sure she knows you have good intentions, too, though. But if she isn't interested, you're going to come off as a creepy paedophile."

"You'd actually come across as an ephebophile, since she's an adolescent," corrected Remus, taking a swig of Madam Loretta's Lovely Lemonade.

"I don't want to be either of them," James exclaimed, dropping his head into his hands.

"Well, you wouldn't actually be," explained Sirius, finishing the last bite of his food, "Since both have to primarily or entirely attracted to children or adolescents. You're not attracted to her because of her age; you're attracted to her because of her personality and appearance, am I right? I'm sure had she been someone closer to your age you would still be attracted to her."

"Big words for Padfoot," Remus teased, ignoring the dirty look Sirius shot him.

James smiled, then nodded. "What should I do though?"

"I'd go basically with what Peter said," Sirius told him, "But perhaps you should find out a bit more about her, give her the tutoring she wants, see if she seems to like you, and maybe she'll keep asking for tutoring."

"I would agree with both of them," Remus said, "Perhaps find out about her relationships with boys, but if she has any, make sure you don't interfere with them under the influence of jealousy. And don't let any students find out. Make sure not to give her preferential treatment, but don't try to seem as though you're being harder on her than anyone else, because that might tip off the teachers, who are wiser than the students, and it might make her resentful."

"I think," Sirius said, "The biggest thing is, let her know that she can come to you if she has any problems. That'll let you to be there for her and let her get to know you, and for you to get to know her. And it wouldn't seem too unnatural, since there are no other adults besides teachers for her to go to at Hogwarts. If your feelings start to change to ones where you feel like you just want to take advantage of her as opposed to caring about her, stop before you hurt her."

James nodded, feeling better for the most part. He had told his students on the first day that they could come to him, and it was now okay to try to figure out who that blonde boy in class had been. His intentions were good, he knew that and his friends knew that. They also knew that he was human, and if his intentions changed, he would tell them and they would help him out. Nothing could go wrong.

Well, aside from about a million other things.

"So basically," James began, "This will be like anyone else I'm interested in. I'll get to know her first, if it turns out that I'm no longer interested, the easier for the both of us. If my feelings continue to evolve as they have been, I'll find out how she feels somehow. I'll just have to be more careful, especially for her sake. She's young, probably inexperienced. I want to make sure I don't hurt her. But what if this is wrong?"

Remus smiled, sagely. "James, I know people twenty years apart in age who are just as happy together as anyone else."

"What if I'm robbing her of her youth and innocence?" James asked, rather overdramatically.

"James, it's the seventies. I'm sure someone has already done that," Peter put in.

James could not help but wonder who, and seethed just a little bit.

Remus laughed. "Don't worry, James. Everything will be fine. Have faith."

James smiled. "Alright, alright."

"Good Jamesie, very good," said Sirius. "Now, that we've basically exhausted my abilities to be serious for about a week, I think I'm off to Honeyduke's."

They all laughed, then exited the shop, attempting to trip each other as they went. Nothing had really changed; they were just a little wiser now.

* * *

Lily and Loren Katz found themselves wandering about the grounds, waiting for Gretty to finish her flying lessons with McGonagall and the first years. She had failed the course all of five of her previous years at Hogwarts.

The girls had plans to meet up with Archie and Albert a little bit later in the day. They hadn't spent much time together this year until today, especially since they had all been busy trying to get themselves organized and used to their new schedules.

"So, Lily, how's school been going?"

"Fairly well, I think. I really like DADA this year. I feel like I'm learning a lot."

Loren laughed. "You should know, by school I really meant boys. And I still think Mr. Potter is one of the finest things with two legs."

Lily laughed. "He's not bad, it must be said."

"Do you think he'd go out with me?" Loren asked.

Lily stopped walking. "Go out with you? He's twenty-five and a teacher."

She had meant for it to come out jokingly, but she couldn't keep a strange little bit of anger out of her voice.

"I know, but I'm mature. And it's only a few years."

"Eight," Lily corrected, beginning to walk again.

Loren stopped and faced her friend.

"Lily Evans!" she exclaimed.

"What?" Lily took a step back from Loren's laughing face.

"You like him!"

"I do not; he's too old," Lily argued.

"Why are you so angry then?"

"I'm…"

"Hey," came the voice of Gretty, a couple of feet away from her two friends.

"..not," Lily finished weakly, surprised at her friend's appearance and her loss of her ability to continue the conversation in her defense.

"Sorry, did I interrupt something?" Gretty asked, confused.

Loren winked at Lily and shook her head no.

_How inconspicuous_, Lily thought, rolling her eyes.

"Okay. So, where are we meeting Archie and Albert?" Gretty asked.

"They want to meet at Honeyduke's in about ten minute," Loren explained.

"What!" Gretty asked. After five years of friendship, Gretty still hadn't seemed quite used to lack of rule abiding that seemed to go on.

"Honeyduke's," Lily said slowly, as though Gretty was all of three years old.

"I heard you," she began, then noticed Lily's laughter and stopped.

"Lucky for secret passageways, hm?" Loren said, heading back into the castle.

* * *

"James Potter, I swear, you eat more candy then you did when we were at school. Didn't you know you're metabolism is supposed to slow down as you age?" Sirius Black laughed. 

Remus had left early under the pretense of having a date that night, and Peter had just seemed to disappear after they left The Three Broomsticks.

James laughed as well. "I happen to like candy."

"Poor Lily. You're going to become old and fat once you two marry."

"Sirius, shh!" James hissed, still smiling.

Wait. Something had moved in the corner. James froze.

"What is it, mate?" Sirius whispered.

"I just… I thought I saw someone."

"Oh, relax. Your age is getting to you, you paranoid, cantankerous old coot."

"You have no idea what cantankerous means, do you?" James asked.

"None whatsoever. You aren't going to tell me, are you, oh Great Teacher?"

James laughed. "No."

"Good. I would have to hit you."

**wally4ever **– If by the sexy one you mean Remus, then for sure he will be in here. I hope the way I write him is ok! And yes, dreams are so much fun. You can just go insane with them.

**esther **– I figured James' friends would be mostly supportive. Or at least, if they weren't they would pretend to be, yes even Peter, since we don't know he turns into a traitor while they are at this age.

**Chelle-Lynn** – I'm sorry if you aren't as okay with it as you could be. This chapter addresses the issues semi-seriously. I'm hoping that the fact that James is having so many conflicting thoughts but still thinks she's worth it will make it romantic enough to cancel out. I really don't think twenty-five is that old. Thanks for reading despite all of that, I really appreciate that you're giving it a chance. As for doing things and the like at a certain age, I'm not really sure how long this is going to be, so you're as much in the dark in that respect as I am.

**Moony4Moony **– I'll grant your wish for Lily and James action in due time, for sure. Thank you so much for the compliments. As the inspiration for my fiction, you pretty much rock. : D

**Elspeth Renee** – Thank you for reading. Haha, maybe I just have a weird perspective when it comes to age. And as for the dream, I figured maybe I should change that so people don't go, "WTF? No." Haha. So I sort of italicized that to make it less of a surprise.

**xStillxWaitingx **– Again, maybe I have a weird perspective when it comes to age. Thank you for reading, I'm glad the difference hasn't shown too badly, though it might start to now, since James is a little bit at conflict with himself.

**Tearful Sins** – He can now!

**The Female Nerd** – Alter her own mind to block feelings for James? Interesting, for sure, but she's doing a pretty good job of blocking her feelings/soon to be feelings for James by herself so far.

**Erin/JEARKPotter** – Haha. I'm not that crazy. :p

**MrsChadmMurray11 **– Ah, I'm sorry. I changed something like two or three times by reuploading it but can't figure out how to just edit it > . If you got the alert more then thrice, then I have no idea, maybe I like double clicked it and it made it send twice? I really don't know.

Thanks also to:

myrline, LarryJoeBob, complicated123, SiriusJamesRemus'sGirl, Percephone, Flame of Desire, watersprite87, all-good-things-must-come-to-an-end, Just Another Harry Potter Fan, personalitysplit, pasiely, Aznangel4eva

for all the kind words. I'm trying to cut down on the space of reviews answered, but if you have a question or comment I feel like I need to address, I'll definitely try to respond.

You can also email me at . Thanks so much kids, if I didn't mention you, I'm sorry, I try. Keep reviewing, s'il vous plait. It is so so so appreciated. I know that this chapter was semi serious and addressed concerns about the relationship, but really, this was written for fun, I want to make it fun for you guys to read and fun for me to write, but there will be some James conflict with himself, because I think it will make things interesting. Next chapter will hopefully be up soonish?


	7. Chapter 6

**_Summary_**: **_James Potter returns to Hogwarts School, this time as a teacher, and meets Lily Evans, brilliant and full of life_**. **_He falls for her and romance, comedy, and drama follow._**

_**AN: The lines in this chapter mostly indicate point of view change from Lily to James. It should be fairly apparent as to who is who, but in case it isn't, I've put the names just after the line. For anyone that is wondering why I've done this, it is to show what the character is thinking. If it is James's POV and James is seeing the world, he should not be able to see or think what Lily is seeing or thinking, so in order to see or hear what Lily is thinking, I need to switch to her point of view. Also, James is not likely to call himself Professor Potter, so that is an immediate clue that the scene has switched into Lily's point of view. Likewise, Lily is not likely to call him James (yet) and this is a sign that we're now in James' point of view. This is why I don't mention both characters thoughts within a line as well. If anyone is confused at all by this, let me know in a review, and I'll try to avoid having so many changes in the next chapter. If POV made more sense to you before my pathetic attempts to explain it, ignore this. :D **_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, anything from the brilliant mind of JK Rowling, and whatever else that isn't mine.**_

**Chapter 6**

"Do you think he was talking about our Lily?" Archibald Morris asked his twin brother, who was slumped against a wall in the basement of Honeydukes, where the two had rushed to avoid detection by their teacher. After all, they were off the grounds without permission.

"I don't know, it could be another Lily. He didn't say much so it's hard to tell," his brother replied.

Just then, the trapdoor in the floor of the Honeydukes cellar opened. Lily peered out, making sure that it was safe to enter.

"Who was talking about me?" she asked curiously, stepping out of the tunnel and holding the trap door up so as to allow Loren and Gretty to exit as well.

"How on earth did you hear that?" asked Albert, incredulously.

She laughed. "Don't know. But really, who was talking about me?"

Archie sighed. "Professor Potter and his friend. Sirius Black, I think."

The Marauders had been legends at Hogwarts, so they were recognizable to any Hogwarts student that didn't live under a rock, since pictures and stories were passed around frequently.

"What?" Loren asked.

"Well, we don't really know if it was you, but he and his friend were talking about a person named Lily and what would happen when they got married," Albert asked.

"What exactly did he say?" Loren questioned.

"I don't know! I can't remember everything," Archie defended.

"You'd think between the two of you, you could remember something other than 'Lily', 'marriage'," she said exasperated.

"So sorry," said Archie, rolling his eyes.

"That's kind of weird," Lily said. "I mean, if he was talking about me."

"Why?" asked Loren.

"But he probably wasn't, I mean why would he?" Lily continued.

Loren cocked her eyebrow, but said nothing.

"So where are we off to?" asked Albert.

"I kind of want to buy my mum a gift, since we're here," said Gretty. "Think we could head to Morgilly's?" Morgilly's was an obscure, little shop that sold small trinkets.

Archie and Albert groaned, since neither enjoyed shopping but followed the girls out of Honeydukes, sneaking out of the cellar one by one and meeting outside. They began to walk in the direction of the shop.

* * *

(James) 

"Where are we headed?" asked Sirius as he and James exited a small building, where James had been asking after a few skrewts for his students to practice spells on.

"I dunno," James said, looking at the shops around him. Morgilly's, Darlina's Dance Studio, Sandra's Kennel For Magical Pets. "Back to Honeyduke's? I think I left one of the bags of candy that I bought back there."

* * *

(Lily) 

Lily and her friends had been walking down the street a little ways, when suddenly Gretty stopped short.

"Crap."

"What?" Archie asked, turning his curious gaze from her to where she was staring.

"Shit."

"Archie!" Gretty scolded.

"Well what? What do we do?"

All five of them were now staring at an approaching Professor Potter and Sirius Black, who, it seemed, had not yet noticed them since the two were talking animatedly.

"What do we do?" Archie repeated.

There was, in fact, no time to really do anything. No alleys or stores were close enough to duck into, and crossing the street would be pointless. In a panic they attempted to throw on the hoods of their robes, in hopes it would hide their faces.

* * *

(James) 

James and Sirius laughed at the five students who were desperately attempting to conceal themselves a little ways away. They slowed down as they approached and were finally standing in front of the group, doing their best to conceal their laughter.

"Found the passageway to Honeydukes I take it?" James asked.

"Lily and I found it in second year." Albert interjected proudly.

Lily promptly stomped on his foot with one of hers.

"Ow!"

James chuckled. Then he realized, if these students had been here the entire time, and in Honeydukes…

_Shit, who exactly had heard what Sirius said?_

He panicked.

"Detention, all of you. Tonight. Nine o'clock. My classroom."

"But Professor!" protested Gretty.

"Oh, I'm proud of all of you. I'm just not supposed to tell you that. Sorry, not my rules," he said, smiling weakly.

"No, we understand," said Lily.

"Good, now, I'll see all five of you tonight. Don't be late."

* * *

(Lily) 

"Detention!" exclaimed Gretty as they made their way to James' classroom. "I've never had detention."

"Relax," said Loren. "It's really not that big of a deal."

Before Gretty could rant on about how big of a deal it really was, Archie hastily interjected.

"What do you suppose we'll have to do?"

"Guess we'll find out," Lily said as they entered the room.

* * *

(James) 

James smiled at them.

"I've let you off pretty easily tonight," he began. "One hour detention. Archie and Albert, you'll both be off with Filch, ensuring that all my old quidditch trophies are absolutely sparkling."

The twins groaned. No one liked Filch, so it wasn't much of a wonder as to why.

"Loren, you'll meet with Professor McGonagall shortly, and you and she will have a marvelous time catching humbugs for her next Transfiguration lesson."

"Humbugs? But Professor, those nasty things bite."

She was quite right. They usually put up a nice fight. He sincerely hoped that one of the large, shelled insects didn't knock her in the head with it's struggling.

"I'm sure Professor McGonagall will take excellent care of you. And Gretty, you'll be with Madame Pomphrey, squeezing Jublets – you know, those nice spiky fruits – for one of her healing potions."

Gretty sighed. Jublets were awful fruits to deal with, but Madame Pomphrey was usually nice enough.

"Now, Lily," he said, turning to her. "You'll be in here with me, sorting these files." He pointed to a humongous stack of folders on one of the desks behind her. If they had been anywhere other than Hogwarts, it would have been a wonder it hadn't fallen in a heap on the floor.

He hoped that the ease he had let her off with hadn't been apparent to her friends, but he wanted to figure out if she knew anything about his conversation with Sirius in Honeydukes.

Maybe he was being ridiculous. Perhaps no one heard anything. And even if someone did, how likely was it that they would suspect this Lily?

His Lily.

_No, no. Just Lily. Her own Lily,_ he corrected himself

One by one, each of her friends left the room, leaving her alone with James.

A very nervous James.

"Alright then, why don't we get to work," he said, hoping his voice wasn't shaking. "Hand me some of those files."

"I'm not complaining, Professor, but usually in detention, the student does the entirety of the work…" she said slowly.

"Oh, I know what detentions are like, believe me, I've had my share," he said. "If you'd prefer to do it all…"

"Oh, no, no, this is fine," she said hastily.

He smiled to himself. She was adorable, and he would let himself think it.

She handed him a small stack of files. His hand lightly brushed hers as he took them from her. It seemed to radiate warmth, and he shivered a little at this contrast to the chilly castle.

She then pulled up a chair and sat across from him at his desk, looking at her own stack of files.

"Er… how exactly do you want me to sort these?"

"By the dates at the top of the page," he said simply, not looking up, afraid that if he did he would somehow give her some sign that he was attracted to her.

* * *

(Lily) 

"Oh… okay," said Lily, feeling rather stupid.

This was rather strange. She didn't know if she was allowed to talk, especially since it was a detention.

A few minutes passed in silence, giving her ample time to think and to glance up now and then to look at Professor Potter for… she didn't know what for.

_Why do I keep looking at him? Maybe Loren's right, maybe I do like him. Or maybe I'm completely overanalyzing the whole thing._

"I'm sorry, it's my fault," he said suddenly

"What?" she asked, surprised and rudely awakened from her thoughts.

"For not telling you how to sort them."

"Oh, no, I should have known."

_He's sort of attractive, I guess._

"How?" Professor Potter asked, looking up at her.

_No, he's very attractive. Oh wow._

"I… don't know. But it doesn't matter, we're aiming for 'the teacher is always right' method of getting through detention."

_Stop it, you told Loren yourself earlier, eight years difference and he's a professor._

He laughed. "Are detentions really that bad?"

"Aren't they supposed to be?"

He thought for a second. "I guess so, but I was trying to make this easy. Am I failing miserably?"

_But still, there's something about him. He seems so mischievous and clever but rather sweet and awkward at the same time._

She shrugged. "It isn't that bad, it's just sort of uncomfortable."

"Uncomfortable how?" he questioned, returning his gaze to his paper.

"I don't know. Too much room to think." She didn't elaborate.

"Okay. Well, you can talk, hum, sing if you want, I won't punish you for it," he said chuckling.

She found herself blushing, and just as he looked up.

* * *

(James) 

Damnit, she was cute when she blushed.

How he hoped he was coming off as professional and perfectly at ease.

Fact: He was nowhere near at ease.

"Erm, alright… so how is teaching at Hogwarts?" she asked him.

"Great. I'm glad to be back here. How's the student life?"

"Good," she responded, nodding.

"And how terrible are the Slytherins this year?"

She laughed. "Pretty terrible. There's one boy, I think his name is Lucius Malfoy. He's kind of strange."

"How so?" he asked her curiously.

"He's always looking at me. And every time I'm forced to partner up with him during potions he never meets my gaze and just sort of stares at my tie. It always makes me worry that I've spilled something on it."

"I see…" James said, trying hard not to look at her… erm… tie.

_Disgusting James, don't be so disgusting. Control yourself. You're in your twenties, don't act like a teenager.  
_

"Well, it is a rather nice tie, it must be said," his voice felt as though it was about to fail him.

She smiled. "Thank you."

Then she looked up at his face from a folder she was working on.

"Are you alright?" she asked him.

He struggled to hide the anger on his face.

"I'm fine," he responded. _Just plotting different ways of how to kill perverted Slythering prats, _he thought, but instead said"So, what does he look like?"

"Really tiny, you'd think he was a first year. He's always around some blonde girl with bug eyes."

"Hair colour?"

"An odd blonde sort of thing, as if he's had one too many lightening charms put on it."

"Hmm. I'll look for him."

"Alright…" she said.

* * *

(Lily) 

Lily wondered why Professor Potter was so curious about this Slytherin boy, but didn't ask. She looked at the enchanted clock hanging on the wall over his head. Only about fifteen minutes of detention left. She found herself wishing this had been a two hour detention instead, which was strange. But, he was interesting to talk to.

"Well," said Professor Potter. "I've met your lovely friends already. Any enemies or lovers?"

"Enemies, not that I know of. And lovers, no, not really. Can't seem to find the right boy here at Hogwarts.

_It's kind of strange how you seem to be everything I've looked for but can't find someone my own age,_ she thought.

"I'm sure quite a few boys like you, you seem like a lovely girl."

Suddenly, a piece of parchment on his desk began to shake. He struggled to grab it and cover it up, but Lily managed to catch part of a message that was beginning to appear:

"_She's beautiful. Don't screw it up."_

She acted as though she had seen nothing, though she was curious as to whom the message was about.

Professor Potter coughed.

Able to see that he was uncomfortable, she quickly returned to the subject of which they were previously speaking.

"Well, thank you, Professor," she said. "If they do, they haven't told me. Sometimes I wish I could read minds. Things would be so much easier if people could just be honest with each other, don't you think?"

He smiled. "Well, then, tell me what you're thinking. We'll start this chain of honesty off."

She blushed. "I think… it's a lovely day. Beautiful weather."

"It's pouring outside," he told her.

Caught off guard she muttered something about her love for rain.

"Well, you've only got five minutes left, Ms. Lily Evans. Why don't I see you to you're common room, make sure you don't run into any nasty Slytherins."

She nodded, and they left the classroom and began to walk down the corridor.

"Ickle Lilykinnnnns," screeched a voice from overhead.

"Peeves is still here?" asked Professor Potter, seeming mildly surprised.

"He is, and probably will be for years to come. I pity those who have to deal with him for longer than I will."

"He's not too bad."

"_Prongsie Potter used to be_

_Hogwart's most desired._

_Now he's aged and elderly_

_And looks so very tired."_

Lily stifled little giggles.

"Demonic little imp," he muttered.

"It's alright, I don't think you're old," Lily said, still laughing a little.

She saw him smile

"Well, we're almost there, I'll let you off here, Professor."

"Alright, sleep well, Ms. Evans."

"You as well, Professor."

They stood there for a few moments. Lily took a step closer.

"Monday, bright and early for DADA. Don't miss my class, it's more important than the others," he said. His laughter shook a little and he stepped forward as well.

"Monday," agreed Lily.

Neither of them moved.

Suddenly a voice rang out from down the corridor.

"Lily!" shouted Loren. "Jeez, the humbugs were awful. I think I might have a slight concussion. One of them got away from me and flew straight at my head. How was your detention?"

Professor Potter then coughed and said goodnight to both girls, excusing himself.

**Thanks to all you reviewers, it's very much appreciated.**

**You can reach me at:**

**r e n e e l e p i c (at symbol) y a h o o . c o . u k**

**Take out all the spaces. Or if you prefer, you can get the link from my profile. Sorry it didn't work last time, I'm still a little new at this.**

**Aznangel4eva **– Probably not all of the passages, but some yes.

**Moony4Moony** – Love to Loretta from Renee. :) Thank you for enjoying my story :D, it means a lot. Now go update Sweet Nothings :p

**The Female Nerd** – Well, we know who heard him, but James doesn't. And we also now know what Sirius thinks thanks to the shaking parchment.

**Elspeth Renee** – This chapter is the beginning of their more major interactions, so yes yes. :)

**Percephone** – I was totally like, I am going to update by Friday so that she has something to read, but then I didn't get a chance till today. I'm sorry. I hope you continue to enjoy it.

**Phyre'schild13** – Nope, James has always been 25. :).

"James Potter had returned to Hogwarts for the first time in eight years, and he knew it now: this was home." Left at about seventeen, plus eight years is twenty-five.

"I attended this school eight years ago, excellent school, must say. I trained for the position of Auror for three years following my education here and then participated in missions for the past five. This, for you mathematicians, will bring us to the age of twenty-five."

I hope that cleared it up.

**Chelle-Lynn** – I'm glad you're starting to accept it. :). I know where it's going in general, I just haven't really decided by when they're going to take more major steps and the like.

**Cake Dance** – Tehe, thanks. I don't see enough LJ teacherness either. Oh well. Thanks for the review, it made me smile.

**J.E.A.R.K.Potter/The lovely Erin** – We found out who it was, James hasn't really yet, though he has suspicions. And yeah, haha, I totally got the email addresses don't show up… after I posted that chapter. XD.

**Amber Tinted** – Thank you so very much. Yes, I figured they probably would take it slow, so they are. I always just assumed that Harry's parents probably would. Just let me know if you think they're taking it **too** slow. :)

**complicated123** – I didn't know that cantankerous was one of your vocab words, but that's pretty cool. Maybe I can make some predictions and tell you what your next set of vocab words will be. :p

Gosh, I went overboard on the smileys. I hope they actually showed up. If not, just know the random colons are smileys. If you had a question that I didn't answer, I'm sorry, just ask again, I probably spaced. I'm sorry for not mentioning everyone, I just want to keep most of the fic the actual story. Thanks!

Also, anyone want to beta me? Please? Updates would probably also be a lot faster. I'd be happy to do edits in return, too. 


	8. Chapter 7

**_Summary_**: **_James Potter returns to Hogwarts School, this time as a teacher, and meets Lily Evans, brilliant and full of life_**. **_He falls for her and romance, comedy, and drama follow._**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, anything from the brilliant mind of JK Rowling, and whatever else that isn't mine.**_

**Chapter 7**

Wednesday afternoon, the sixth year Gryffindors filed into James' classroom. Lily had been absent on Monday and James was extremely curious and concerned as to her being. He watched the sixth years carefully.

She wouldn't possibly miss his class for no reason.

Hell, he had told her not to miss his class, albeit, jokingly.

She had agreed to it.

_What the hell, Potter, you're acting as though you two had made a date._

No, he was just concerned as any professor would be about any student.

Well. Not any student. James had finally identified Lucius Malfoy. He wouldn't have minded at all if he had been absent more often. Malfoy often acted as though he knew more about DADA then James. Which was positively ridiculous. Malfoy also had another friend aside from the "girl with bug eyes", whom he assumed was Narcissa, since she sat beside him in class and fit the description Lily had given; his other friend was black-haired and greasy, which a large hook nose.

Jeez, it was huge. Gigantic.

He was interrupted from his reverie by a shy "Hello, Professor" from one Lily Potter. Thank goodness.

He nodded, smiled, and then closed the door as she came through.

_Thump._

Oh. Wait, more people were arriving. And he had just slammed the door in their faces.

"What the bloody hell was that Professor?" asked Mendalus Archer, a sarcastic, smart-ass blonde boy. Apparently he had moved to London earlier that year.

"Erm… lesson. Always be aware of your surroundings," James explained.

Mendalus rubbed his forehead with his hand and glared at James, who did his best not to laugh.

As everyone took their seats, James did the same.

"I'm not going to bother with you today," he told the class, "So I've got an assignment for you. Please come up and get a worksheet on temporary mind-altering spells and pick a partner to work with. You'll be handing this in at the closing of the period."

Lily and Mendalus had partnered up. James was a bit displeased.

She didn't have a boyfriend, but Mendalus definitely seemed interested.

"Lily Evans," he found himself saying suddenly, "Please come up here. I'd like to speak with you. Mendalus, you'll need a new partner, I'll be borrowing yours for a bit."

Mendalus frowned, and Lily, looking rather confused, stood and made her way to the front of the classroom.

"I'd like to know where you were Monday, Ms. Evans," he said, "If it pleases you to tell me." He smiled.

"Dumbledore's office," she explained.

He wanted to ask her why, but knew that it wasn't really any of his business. "Alright, well, Dumbledore had told me that you needed help with this topic," he said, gesturing at the pile of worksheets. "I assumed, in that case, that we would work on that at our first tutoring session and that I would explain what we did on Monday during today's class."

"Alright," said Lily, nodding.

James began to explain the use of magical creatures for defense and how they could be won over to fight for a witch or wizard. Lily listened politely and seemed genuinely interested.

_Genuinely pretty_, James thought dreamily.

"Professor?"

"Hmm? Oh. What? Yes?" He realized he had stopped explaining the topic.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, of course."

"Alright," she said, dubiously.

He continues his explanation of the topic and finished just as the bell rang.

"Did you time that?" she asked, laughing.

"No, didn't need to. I'm just naturally awesome."

"Oh, oh, alright," she said sarcastically. "I knew that."

He chuckled, and she walked back to her desk to put her things away. Like what seemed like so many times before, she was the only one left in his classroom after the bell had rung. Now that the other students had gone, an awkward silence fell between the two of them. She was packing her books up so slowly, it made him wonder if perhaps she did so on purpose.

"So when are we meeting?" she asked, finally picking up her bookbag.

"Hmm... I suppose tonight at around eight o'clock if you can."

"Alright, I'll see you then," she said.

As the door closed behind her, James breathed a sigh of relief. He suddenly noticed that his hands had been sweating.

_What am I, thirteen? Control, James, control. You're a man._

* * *

"The more I talk to him, the more I'm convinced he's like a little boy," Lily told Loren as they walked to Potions class after lunch. 

"What do you mean?"

"He's seems sort of shy and bashful, but it's like he's covering for it with his cocky jokes and comments," Lily explained.

Loren laughed. "I think you're the only one who's seen that side of him. He just seems a bit cocky to me, but in an oddly nice way."

"I don't know."

"I do," Loren said. "I think that not only do you like him- "

Lily uttered sounds of protest.

"I think he likes you to," she finished.

"You're insane, Loren. And "like" seems like such a weird word when we're talking about a twenty-five-year-old man."

"It's true," Loren chirped. "You do and he does."

"No, no, I don't."

"How not?"

"I just don't. He's too old for me. And he's got messy hair, and he wears glasses, and he's cocky," Lily explained in one breath.

"You don't care about any of those things, and you know it."

Lily sighed. "Suppose that I didn't. What difference would it make? I wouldn't even be thinking about this if Archie and Albert hadn't mentioned him supposedly talking about me. Silly really, since it probably wasn't even me."

"But he was talking about you, and you would be thinking about it. I've been watching you in class. You ogle him," Loren said matter-of-factly.

"I do not ogle him!"

"You do. And I've stopped waiting for you after class because you take too long packing your bag. You do it sooo slowly, and you've been doing it since the first day. I think you just want to prolong your time with him."

"I do not!" Lily protested.

Loren gave her a skeptical look.

"Even if I did, it wouldn't matter a bit because he doesn't care anything for me."

"Yes he does," Loren said simply.

"You're infuriating!" Lily snapped.

Loren simply laughed. "Say whatever it is you want to say, but he likes you and you aren't going to change that by denying it."

"Suppose he does. How would one even know?"

"I guess you've completely forgotten the occurrence after that detention. And you were standing close to him. And leaning in. And he was leaning in, too."

"You saw that?"

"Of course I saw it. And then you both leaped apart like little fishes." She laughed at the memory.

"That doesn't mean anything," Lily said.

"It meant quite a lot actually. It was like watching a pair of magnets. The attraction is quite obvious."

"You're insane. I don't believe you," Lily said simply.

Loren just smiled and continued walking.

After a few moments the two were almost at the dungeons. Lily stopped suddenly.

"So what do I do?" she asked.

"I don't know, what do you think you should do?" Loren returned.

"Talk… to him?" Lily asked hesitantly.

Loren shrugged. "I don't know, it's up to you."

* * *

Later that night, Lily was on her way to Professor Potter's classroom at eight o'clock that night, and she was rather nervous. She was unsure as to the course of action she should take, if any at all. 

Before she could dwell on it much longer, she noticed a tall man with chin length black hair exiting Professor Potter's classroom. He looked rather familiar. The man waved to her.

Strange.

He stopped a few steps in front of her, forcing her to stop as well.

Stranger.

"Hello," he said, "My name is Sirius Black. Nice to finally meet you."

Lily's mind was in a bit of a jumble. Why was he talking to her? Did he even know who she was?

"Lily?" he asked.

"Er. Pardon? Yes."

"I've heard quite a bit about you," he explained.

This only increased her confusion.

"From whom?" she asked, "I'm sorry, that sounds rude. I just… don't know who you'd hear about me from."

A thought occurred to her. _James maybe?_

No, that was silly.

Sirius was looking at her curiously. She then realized that she must have had some sort of strange look on her face.

"Oh, sorry," she said quickly, "Er, I'd better go. I've got a lesson with Professor Potter."

Sirius laughed. "Professor Potter. That's fantastic. Have a pleasurable evening."

With that he left her standing in the hallway, looking rather curiously at the place he had stood for a few seconds. She then continued walking.

When she reached the classroom, she was about to enter, until she heard two voices inside, conversing.

"I think you should ease into this, James. She might not be used to such an idea," said the first voice, one she didn't recognize.

"I know, Remus," responded a second. This one was Professor Potter's; she'd know it anywhere. "I really don't want to ruin my chances. If I even have any."

Lily's curiosity was captivated.

"I'm sure you do. So when do I meet her?"

"Well, she…"

Lily couldn't take it anymore. It might have been her. But there was an equal chance of their conversation being about someone else. And at that moment, she decided that if it was so, she couldn't bear it. All this was discovered and acted upon in a single second.

She knocked.

A profanity was whispered in the Professor's low voice. A pause. "Er, come in!" he called.

Lily entered. Professor Potter's back was turned to her. Another man stood by the desk. He was rather handsome, with messy grey-blonde hair and shining eyes.

"You must be Miss Lily Evans," he said kindly.

Dammit, how did everyone know her name?

"I am," she replied, smiling.

"I'm Remus Lupin." He walked across the room and shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you," she told him.

"And you as well," he replied, "I hear you're having a few difficulties with those damn mind-altering spells. I hated those too."

She laughed. "They're tricky."

"Well, I suppose I will leave the two of you to it. Good luck. I'm sure you'll catch on quickly, James tells me that you're one of his most brilliant students."

She didn't recall ever saying anything particularly outstanding or worthy of such a label. And wait, was Professor blushing?

No, it had to be a trick of the light.

Remus smiled at Lily, waved goodbye to Professor Potter, and then left.

* * *

(James) 

James coughed. "So, where would you like to start?" he asked.

"I don't know. I'm having a lot of trouble actually performing the spell, I think I get the concept behind it, though," she explained, sitting across from him in a chair that had been pulled up to his desk.

"Well, why don't we start on this worksheet then, then work on the spell. Sort of like a warm-up."

_Sort of like foreplay,_ said his mind.

"Stop being ridiculous," he mumbled very quietly to himself.

"I beg your pardon?" she queried.

"Oh, nothing. Why don't you get started on this, if you have any questions… well, erm… I'll be sitting across from you."

She laughed.

_How much had she heard at the door?_ he wondered.

He watched her work, studying the look of concentration on her face… the way her red hair fell about her face… the freckles on her forehead and across her nose.

"Alright, done," she said suddenly.

James glanced up at the clock. It had only been about ten minutes. He smiled as she handed it to him. From what he could tell, nothing seemed to be amiss or frightfully wrong.

Lily smiled at him. He hoped he wasn't blushing. That would be the millionth time since he had met her.

He stood and mumbled a spell under his breath. The tables in the classroom all moved to the back of the room, allowing them room in the middle of the classroom. He then motioned for her to stand and join him.

"Now," he said, "with these types of spells, you have to be very sure that your wand movement is precise. Let's try the first one, _psychos plus_, the adding of thoughts spell. Make me think something."

Lily looked at her subject with intense focus. She mumbled the spell and flicked her wand.

James felt his mind being twisted very slightly, but other than that, nothing.

He walked over to stand behind her and put his hand on top of hers on the wand. He felt her tense up.

He hoped he wasn't tensing up as well. He hoped he seemed perfectly relaxed.

Oh, wow, but her skin was soft.

"You want to relax the motion more," he said, "It's more flowing than sharp and jagged, which is what you're doing."

She nodded.

"Try the movement with me," he said, "Forget the words for a minute."

She did as instructed. He moved her hand, then nodded.

"Do you think you have it?"

"I… I think so, Professor."

"Good, now try again."

But he just stood there, his hand on top of her hand. Why wasn't he moving? In order to let her test the spell he had to be standing where he had been before, but his legs simply were not taking him there.

Lily said nothing. He had expected a shy, confused "Professor?" but it didn't come.

He loved it when she said "Professor." There was nothing else to say about it but that it was adorable. So shy, and questioning, and unsure, and sweet.

Maybe he wouldn't move. What would she do if he didn't? She hadn't done anything yet. His other hand found it's way to her shoulder. The contact made him shiver slightly.

Now it came. "Professor?" She was leaning into him, very slightly. He could feel it. Why was he so sensitive to such a tiny movement?

"Yes?" he asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

"What… what are you doing?"

He thought for a moment about making up some sort of excuse. "It was necessary to the spell," or "If you could gain some of my energy through this connection I've just made, it would help," etc. But then his mind stopped, and no more excuses came. He didn't want to use any of them, partly because he didn't want to lie to her and partly because he would have to move.

"Holding you, I think," he explained softly.

The hand that had been on her shoulder moved under her arm and slid its way onto her stomach, then pulled her closer to him. Her hand placed itself on top of his hand. Their wand hands retained their positions.

There placed and in such a way positioned, they stood.

**A/N: So very sorry for the terrible long delay in updating. Thank you to all the reviewers, and I hope everyone keeps reviewing. It helps a ton. But, since fanfiction dot net no longer allows the responses in the story, I'll just do my best to use the little reply button in case anyone has a question. One thing I will address in this is an anonymous review, _Laura_, who asked why Snape is not in James' year. The answer: simply because this is Alternate Universe. Since it doesn't exactly have to flow with cannon, I can basically put them anywhere, and dividing them so recognizeable characters are in both the student and graduate group seemed like a good plan. AU is Great fun. And for the point of view, I'll put the name in parentheses only when the situation/setting/time is the same, but the POV changes. Hope that all works. Renee**


	9. Chapter 8

**_Summary_**: **_James Potter returns to Hogwarts School, this time as a teacher, and meets Lily Evans, brilliant and full of life_**. **_He falls for her and romance, comedy, and drama follow._**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, anything from the brilliant mind of JK Rowling, and whatever else that isn't mine._**

**Chapter 8**

Neither of them expected her next action.

_Smack_.

She had turned around and slapped him, hitting him squarely on the cheek. As a DADA teacher and auror, you would have thought he'd have had better reflexes.

His hand flew to the area, and he smiled rather bitterly.

"You're free to go Ms. Evans. I think we've learned enough for one night."

She simply stood there, wide eyed and in shock.

"Professor… I…"

"Go."

"No, let me explain," she pleaded.

"You needn't, really. I should have expected this anyway. Please, go. I'll see you on Monday."

She looked down at the ground, then turned slowly and left.

As the door closed behind her, James heaved himself into his seat and rested his elbows on his desk. His head dropped into his hands, and he sighed.

What had he expected? A muggle movie kiss?

Still, his pride hurt.

Suddenly the door began to open. James' head shot up. He began to reach for a pen so that he could pretend he had been busy grading papers. Then he stopped.

It was just Remus.

"I… er… I forgot my hat here, Ja—"

He stopped short.

"What's wrong, James?"

"Nothing's wrong."

"Obviously," he said dubiously, "What happened?"

James took a deep breath and spoke. "I feel sostupid," he explained.

"You tried something with Lily." It wasn't a question.

James nodded.

Remus smiled weakly. "I'll ask you for details later. I think you need a drink right now."

* * *

As soon as Lily was safely a few corridors away from Professor Potter's classroom, she ran the rest of the way to the grounds. She didn't want to face anyone just yet, but the squid would make an amicable companion for her dreary spirits. 

Why had she slapped him? His touch and the feeling of his arm around her had felt… nice.

It probably had something to do with uncertainty; thoughts about safety and fear and unconventionality and the future and older men and sex and so many things she really didn't want to think about just now.

* * *

Once they had arrived at James' quarters, Remus took himself to James' cupboard and pulled out the firewhiskey, pouring both of them a glass. 

"I can't," James told him, waving the glass away, "I have work tomorrow."

"Just take it."

James didn't even try to resist at this second offer. He took the glass at stared at the deep amber-coloured liquid.

"Remus, what am I supposed to do now?" he asked miserably.

"Drink," Remus told him, raising his glass.

* * *

Lily sat by the lake, watching the undulating movements of the water as a result of the squid's activity. Thoughts came and were sorted in her mind with more ease under the influence of the cold October night. 

The world would give her enough problems without her creating her own, whether she did so in the things she did do or the things did not do. This was especially true in these times.

* * *

A knock came at the door 

"Who the hell could that be at this hour?" James grumbled, standing lethargically and walking towards the door.

Remus laughed at his friend's half-drunken mood.

James opened the door.

"Lily," he said, surprised.

"May I come in, Professor?" Lily asked, "I'd like to talk with you."

**AN Oh gosh, I'm sorry that took so long and was so short. It was the hardest chapter ever to write. I wanted to write it the right way. I hope I did. I've also been so very busy lately, but that's toned itself down for now, so hopefully the next update will come much quicker. Thank you to everyone for your patience and for your reviews.  
**

**Update: Alright, so I found the translation of my story to Portugese. I am very flattered, and the translator credited me, so I'm happy. In the future though, if any translations are to be made, it would be nice if someone would let me know? Thank you!  
**


	10. Chapter 9

**_Summary_**: **_James Potter returns to Hogwarts School, this time as a teacher, and meets Lily Evans, brilliant and full of life_**. **_He falls for her and romance, comedy, and drama follow._**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, anything from the brilliant mind of JK Rowling, and whatever else that isn't mine._**

**Chapter 9**

James opened the door enough to allow her entry, looking at Remus in confusion.

How was he supposed to act?

"I'd like to speak with you about tonight."

"Er…" James had been caught too much off guard to directly deny her this. "I'd rather not. I'm sort of tired and…"

James did not want to talk about it, simply put.

"That's fine, it probably won't take long."

Remus looked upon all this with an amused smile. Lily had given little indication that she was aware of his presence, save for muttering a "hello, Mr. Lupin" as she walked into the room, just before turning to face James, who blinked and tried to focus.

"Professor Potter–"

He smiled weakly at her forceful introduction.

"-unless I'm very much mistaken in my estimation of you, you are not any of the following: a, a pervert, b, one to take advantage, c, a paedophile who has arrived at Hogwarts to seduce a few young girls," she continued.

"Er. Right," he said, unable to think of much else to say.

"It follows that your intentions in laying a hand on me would not be harmful, exploitive, or malicious."

"Yes, okay," he agreed, not any better off in finding the right words.

"So, you've left me to choose among the following conclusions: a, I remind you of an ex-girlfriend, b, you got caught up in some sort of moment, or c, you genuinely have some sort of feelings for me."

James suppressed a chuckle. She was like a miniature lawyer.

"Well?" she pressed, looking at him intently.

How was one to respond? James glanced over at Remus for help, but the man simply sat there, reading the_ Daily Prophet_.

"I er… I guess it would have to be 'c'," James said slowly.

Lily stood for a few seconds in silence, as though she had been prepared an argument, but nothing further.

"Oh," she said finally, "Well, okay." In comparison to her introduction, the conclusion was rather lame.

Then suddenly she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his stomach, squeezing him into a hug. He could of sworn he heard Remus chuckle.

After a few moments, Lily stepped back and looked at James, who smiled back at her rather goofily. He saw her glance over at the bottle of firewhiskey sitting on his desk.

Laughing, she said, "Well, I hope you and your friend have a lovely evening. I sincerely hope you remember this in the morning."

With that, she walked past him and headed for the door.

His hand reached out and caught her stomach as she walked by.

"You aren't leaving," he said, drawing her to him and breathing very loudly and deeply, inhaling the scent of her hair.

Remus laughed at his friend's slightly drunken mood.

"I'm afraid I must. I'll see you soon though." She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Then, looking at Remus she said, "Do make sure he gets to bed at a reasonable hour?"

He smiled at her and nodded.

* * *

Lily walked through the castle in a bit of a daze. Granted, Professor Potter had not said much, and granted he had been a bit tipsy, but everything was quite nice anyway.

She walked into her dorm room and shook Loren awake.

"Ergh, what?" Loren grunted.

"I talked to him."

"Who…?"

"Professor Potter," Lily whispered.

Loren shot up in her bed and rubbed her eyes. "I'm listening…"

"Wait… do you suppose I should tell Gretty?"

Lily had been avoiding this issue. Gretty was one of her very best friends, but she didn't imagine that she would approve of a student seriously liking a professor. Considering one attractive was one thing, but even considering doing something about that was completely different.

But she should be told.

Loren had made the decision for her and had gone to wake her up. Gretty, tired, confused, sat down on Loren's bed with the other two.

Loren and Gretty listened to Lily's whispered account of the night, Gretty with tired eyes that would widen spontaneously and then droop shut for a few seconds, and Loren giggling and gasping at appropriate times.

"How long has this been going on?" Gretty asked finally.

"Not long, really. I've sort of liked him I guess. I never really thought much of it. Loren and I had a discussion or two about what I should do but…"

"But you'd never come to me?"

"I would have. I never really came to Loren. She sort of picked up on it and told me how I was feeling, before I could figure it out myself."

Gretty nodded. "Erm, I suppose I can see that. I'm not sure I really approve of this, though."

Lily smiled. "Yes, well, I'm not sure I really approve myself."

* * *

James knocked on the door of Dumbledore's study.

"Come in, James," came the voice from inside.

"Hello, Professor," James began, slowly.

"Please, Albus," Dumbledore corrected.

"Albus, I, erm, I had a question," James began nervously, as thoughts of losing his job entered his head.

"Alright," Dumbledore said, smiling.

"Okay, well, recall you asked me to come to you before I left the castle for a date."

"Mhmm." He leaned forward . Something about his voice made him seem dangerously alert.

"Well, I would like to erm, leave the castle… for a date."

"I see. May I ask whom with?"

What should he say? Dumbledore was acting rather strangely. It was probably best to go with the truth.

"Erm. Lily Evans…," James mumbled.

"I'm sorry, James, I couldn't hear you."

James cleared his throat.

"Lily Evans."

"I see."

"Yes." James stared at his feet. He felt like a little boy in the headmasters office of his primary school.

"Do you think I should say yes?" Dumbledore asked.

James looked up suddenly.

"Well, I'd like for you to say yes," he said slowly.

"This is a little bit difficult James, because were you anyone else, I'd question placing a student in such intimate care."

Were he anyone else? What did that mean? It sounded sort of good, he supposed.

"Does she like you, James?"

"I believe she does, Sir."

"Well, the girl has had a rather hard time of it. Her mother had a miscarriage recently. Poor girl didn't take it well."

"I see, Sir," James looked at his feet again. He hadn't known. It made him think that there was rather a lot that he didn't know about her.

Dumbledore breathed in deeply.

"Promise me, _promise me,_ you'll take care of her," the elder demanded, with startling intensity in his voice.

James looked directly into his eyes, and with an intensity that matched the headmaster's:

"I promise."

Dumbledore smiled warmly.

"Good, would you like some tea, James?"

**Oh my goodness I'm sort that it took so long to get that out. I've wanted to update so badly but I've been so busy. > I suppose it's rather short, but it's moving the story along quite a bit. I hope you enjoy the update. Let me know. Thank you so much for your reviews, they really keep me going. **

**Renee **


	11. Chapter 10

_**Summary**: **James Potter returns to Hogwarts School, this time as a teacher, and meets Lily Evans, brilliant and full of life. ****He falls for her and romance, comedy, and drama follow. **_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, anything from the brilliant mind of JK Rowling, and whatever else that isn't mine. The name Ugolin I first heard in Manon of the Spring.  
**_

**Chapter 10**

James began to make his way towards the spiral staircase that would take him to a door leading back to the hallway.

"_Do you really suppose that was wise, Albus?"_

He stopped. The voice had spoken loudly. He really couldn't help but overhear.

A pause, then Dumbledore responded.

"_I do, Snodgrass. The current situation isn't working. This might."_

"_I can see this turning into her fourth year all over again." _

"_If you are comparing James–"_

"_Albus, I mean no offence. I simply wish to caution you. This is hasty, and frankly, I think it's strange."_

"_Strange it may be. Many things are. Nonetheless, each time I've called her into my office, his name comes up. Unless you have a potion to bring that girl out of her shell, I'd appreciate less advice from you. Thank you, good day, Snodgrass."_

James heard Dumbledore's chair squeak loudly.

_Damnit._ He would not be caught eavesdropping.

By the time he was at the bottom of the steps, he heard the door closing loudly. He was soon out in the hallway and running towards the end of the corridor like a marauder with Filch at his heels.

* * *

Lily sighed, pushing her Potions textbook and parchment away from her. The three-foot long essay on the proper way of handling, chopping mixing, cooking dragon scales had drained her of her motivation and possibly of her will to live. 

Her first month or so at Hogwarts had left her exhausted. She had scarcely had a moment to herself. Her mind was constantly busy with work and friends, a few arguments, and the idea of James as more than a teacher.

She had just sort of tacked it onto the list, but the last one was the big one. It was a thought that she hardly knew what to think of. And despite all the confusion, she could feel her feelings for him growing.

He was older and he was probably significantly more experienced in erm, certain departments, and that scared her a bit, she had to admit. But at the same time, he had a smile that could make her melt, compassion, and a sort of… danger and excitement about his person. But with all these qualities, she couldn't help but wonder what he saw in her.

And despite her doubts, Lily had never met anyone that she felt such a connection with. She felt safe around him, somehow. She saw him as gentle, rational, and lacking the violent passions that teenage boys were often victims of.

Lily felt a chill run through her. She rose to shut the window.

* * *

Monday again. He hadn't seen her in the hallways at all. It had been agony waiting for this day. 

Teaching the class. Unprepared, and slightly sleepless due to a late night spent planning the perfect approach. The students were so loud. But she was so gorgeous. Down to every freckle. More agony.

He had avoided thinking about the conversation between Dumbledore and Snodgrass. He hadn't thought about her past much until he overheard those words, and whatever had been revealed to him in such vague detail that day increased the pressure he felt.

Not only was he asking a girl he fancied out on a date, but if anything went wrong…

Oh bloody hell.

He thought about nothing else the rest of the class time. Once he completed his lecture, he allowed the class to practice whatever it was he had just taught them. He couldn't remember it himself, and so fervently hoped that no one had any questions to ask him.

Of course, no such luck.

An eager young pupil rushed up to his desk.

"Professor, this is kind of off topic, but if you gather horatia root and throw it at your subject before you cast a spell, does it strengthen your spell? I hear it does."

_What the hell?_ James had never heard anything about this. So he avoided the topic of horatia root completely.

"Do you suppose taking the time to toss something at your subject and losing concentration on the spell because you have to focus on where you throw the root is going to strengthen your spell?"

The student nodded his supposed understanding, as if in deep concentration. James looked over his shoulder at Lily and Mendalus, working together.

There was really too much interaction between the two for his taste. He was confident in the fact that Mendalus was interested and—

"Professor?"

"Oh, pardon me. I was just… thinking about what you said. What was it you said again?"

The bell clanged. James sighed with relief and then stood.

"Well, ask me next time, I suppose. You won't want to be late."

The student walked away, muttering. This left James to grip the edge of his desk, hoping the action would somehow alleviate his nervousness about what was to come.

Lily looked up at him and smiled before standing to pack her bag. She put her books in very deliberately and paused for a second as the last student left the classroom.

James said nothing. He was trying to speak, he truly was.

"Herg."

"Pardon?" asked Lily.

James said nothing.

"Alright, well, best to not be late, I suppose," she told him, rather gloomily.

She began to walk to the door. James saw her walk to the door. She was walking towards the door. The door.

And yet he said nothing, did nothing.

Open door. Flash of red hair.

The door slammed shut.

He suddenly came out of his daze.

Open door, flash of black hair.

"Lily!" he shouted down the corridor at the back of the red headed girl who was walking rather quickly.

She paused.

"Yes, Professor?"

He rushed up to her and turned her around, holding her in his arms.

"Will you—would you—will you go on a date with me?"

She smiled up at him. All the nervousness of the day completely vaporized.

"I'd love that."

_Thud._

Someone fell out from behind the statue of Ugolin the Oaf.

_**Oh, I'm SO sorry for not posting sooner, you have no idea. A combination of family troubles, packing up, moving, paperwork, new schools, etc. had left me a) computerless for quite a while and b) exhausted. I had to take a bit of time to sort things out, but I haven't abondonned the story, I promise. Thank you for all the reviews and support for the story. Please continue to review, they help so much.**_

**_Love,  
Renee_**


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